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Morbidae

A different kind of suggestion regarding CA Help Chat

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I have noticed this now quiet a lot and its not just happening to me. But I have to say I find it very irritating and sometimes even annoying when one asks a question to not get an answer at all, although Helpers are active in the CA Help Chat at that given time.
I do understand that they probably dont know everything there is to know about this game, but Id appreciate to see them at least react in terms of saying: Sorry I dont know the answer to that question.

Cuz sometimes it really feels like youre getting ignored and thats not fun.
So Id like to suggest to maybe make the Helpers aware of this so they at least say something so one knows it didnt  go unseen.

Edited by Morbidae
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Common sense, have you tried to ask 2nd, 3rd time within 5-15minutes?

You'd get exactly that, normally, and you'd be irritating somebody slightly, but all will be within norms.

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1 hour ago, Finnn said:

Common sense, have you tried to ask 2nd, 3rd time within 5-15minutes?

You'd get exactly that, normally, and you'd be irritating somebody slightly, but all will be within norms.

Of course I did that. But I dont wanna feel like im harassing them either.

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As one of those CA's who happens to be on a 2 week work break, but also with a 7 year old who is on break as well - I will often get up and walk away from the computer for hours.  I also know of several CA's that are doing things like logging in and standing around for sermon groups while they are at work.

 

Think of how the CA position is manned.  We are unpaid volunteers who enjoy the game and want to help out.  But, we also play the game and have lives outside of it.  

 

Remember, the game is set up so that most people can help themselves via the wiki (a great and amazing recourse also updated and maintained by volunteers), and other people who also help out a ton by answering Q's not just in the Help chat, but in all chat channels.  Feel free to help out people.

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When possible, we do answer every question, but some get lost in the shuffle. If you haven't seen a response after a while (without spamming the channel) simply ask again after a bit.

Also keep in mind that the folks working in CA help are player volunteers. They aren't "on the clock" at all times. They are allowed to play the game without watching the Help chat at all times too, can be afk, or be busy helping others in PMs. Just because you see a name as being a CA in the chat, doesn't mean that they are absolutely available to help you. Also there are times of the day when there are not very many volunteers available, if any, and if there are a number of questions coming it, yours can get overlooked.

Also if you're asking questions that are not just game mechanics, they may pass on answering the question, especially if it's something that belongs as a forum discussion and isn't a basic answer. Typically when I see that I do point it out, and have been one to speak up when it is something I'm not sure of an answer for.

 

 

Edited by Seriphina
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I feel like they seldom say they don't know the answer to the question because they tried to decrease the chance to get lost in shuffle, so that questions can be seen and can answer questions more efficiently.
Imagine the chat keep shuffling by the sentences "sorry i don't know the answer to the question.", instead of focus on seeing questions.
I choose to assume they don't know the answer when they don't say anything to the question because i try to avoid the vicious cycle.
People are getting used to have blue ticks now, isn't it? 😏

Edited by Coach

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14 hours ago, Morbidae said:

But I have to say I find it very irritating and sometimes even annoying when one asks a question to not get an answer at all, although Helpers are active in the CA Help Chat at that given time.

 

I understand your feelings; it can be frustrating not to receive an answer to your questions.

 

However, you probably misunderstand how CA HELP works, so let me explain. The names that appear in the list on the right-side of the panel are the names of Community Assistants (CAs) currently online on the same server as you are. But that does not mean they are paid employees on duty! CAs are players like yourself who volunteer to help other players by trying to answer questions about the game, the rules and the mechanics. But: primarily they also PLAY the game, so they may just be busy with other things or - like all of us - they may be afk for longer periods. CAs usually try their best to answer any question asked in CA HELP, and no player is deliberately being ignored! But CAs are not omniscient wizards, and sometimes they may just not know the answer or not be available at that moment.

 

Also, there usually are more CAs online than you are aware of. (You can only see CAs on your own server.) So, even if one of them does not know the answer to a question, one of the others might, so a CA may be waiting for others to reply. As Coach pointed out, we don't want the chat being spammed by 10 people telling you "Sorry, I don't know", do we? So, if you don't get a reply just assume that currently nobody knows the answer. You are welcome to ask again after a while.

 

Have fun and enjoy the game.

 

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I do very well know that CA Helpers arent paid employees, but volunteers who use their own private time to help others. Im aware of that. Also I know they dont know the answer to every question. As I mentioned thats not the problem at all. But I have had it happen quiet often, that the Chat is active with active Helpers in there and I ask something and get absolutely no response. So I think, well they were busy with that other question so I try again later. But still no response. So eventually I just give up and feel like being ignored.
Just how can I tell that none is available at that given time, or doesnt know the answer, or hasnt seen it or whatever reason there might be for not getting any reaction at all even after several tries?
Cuz I dont wanna keep asking the same question over and over again until I get a reaction at all, since that feels like im abusing the Help chat and harassing the ppl trying to help where they can?

So to sum it up:
-Im not saying they ignore on purpose, not at all (it just feels like being ignored)
-Im not saying they have to be there 24/7 either, cuz I know they are players just like I am
-I cant tell weather I dont get an answer cuz nobody knows or none is around or it wasnt seen at all
-I dont wanna abuse the Help channel by asking over and over again
-I dont wanna harass the ppl in Help channel by asking over and over again
-Its not just me feeling this way, just bringing it up cuz I have heard this from others aswell

Question: What are we supposed to do then? (always assuming the questions are about game mechanics etc.)

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If you don't get a response in CA Help to your question, do the following:

 

a) Try to look it up on the wiki.  Amazing resource.  CA Help people use it all the time to make sure of their answer before we type a response, cause nobody wants to say the answer is XYZ when 4 months ago it was changed and they missed it so the real answer is ABC.  

b) Ask in other channels like your village, alliance, your freedom or even global.  CA Help is not a monopoly and we definitely don't know it all, and the majority of players are more than willing to help.

c) Be patient but also situationally aware.  If you notice that your question came out at the same time as 10 other questions, just wait a bit and if you don't see an answer just ask it again.  If you were the only typing in that channel for an hour, assume that the people are AFK or don't know, and then come back in a while and feel free to ask again.  

 

Nobody in the CA Help channel will feel harassed if you are patient and polite.  We all volunteer our time to help because it is who we are.  

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I'm reminded of the joke where 3 professors of logic walk into a bar.

 

The bar tender asks, "so... do you three all want a drink?"

There's a pause, and then one of the professors says, "I don't know."

Another one says, "I don't know."

Almost immediately, the third one says, "Yes, we do."

 

If you have three Community Assistants, and you ask a question, you almost certainly don't want to hear two of them saying they don't know before you hear the one that does. This is one of the reasons why we're advised that in general it's not a good idea to say that we don't know. Another CA or a player with specialist knowledge might also be lurking, and might even be typing an answer. 

 

Bottom line: there's nothing wrong with asking a follow-up question, e.g. "does anyone know the answer to my question about X?"

That's much more likely to get the final answer.

Edited by Sheffie
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I understand your frustration with not getting a response, while you see them actively answering other people's questions. But I don't think it's a case of them ignoring you: I'm more inclined to believe they're trying to lessen the flooding in the chat, by waiting for someone who knows the answer to respond. When people respond to everything in chat it increases the mass of text, making it harder for someone else to see the questions. And if someone else sees that you're getting a reply they might not read further and instead just think "oh ok someone is responding to them".

 

I think this is one of those cases where the expectations don't match up with the reality of the chat. You're not wrong for wanting your questions to be acknowledged, it just doesn't seem to jell with the CA flow. Personally I think that a CA repeatedly answering "Sorry, I don't know the answer to that" would get old really fast, since it would push the questions further into obscurity, making it even harder to read CA Help. "I don't know" is a non-answer, and not responding at all might actually be better in a lot of cases - Even if it has the unfortunate side-effect of making people feel unheard.

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Frankly CA Help should be cross kingdom. There are lots of very experienced players who can't help because they're on a PvP server at the time. If you made it so that all kingdoms had the same CA Help channel then you would likely see more volunteers stepping in to answer difficult questions. People are mature enough not to use the channel for cross kingdom trash talk. HotS CA Help is almost always dead and I assume JK and MR channels are the same.

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From my observations, questions are not always answered in the order they are received.   Simple common questions requiring a short answer may often get answered first.  This is helpful for everyone as it clears the chat ready for more involved answers.  It may be that your question requires a longer more in depth answer, and this takes time for the experts to think about, research or ask a dev before typing out the response with the detail it deserves.  :) 

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